


your garden so delightful

by tsu_kei_shima



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Dialogue Light, First Kiss, Fluff, Language of Flowers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:47:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21855487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsu_kei_shima/pseuds/tsu_kei_shima
Summary: Tsukishima Kei is helplessly in love with Yamaguchi. He expresses his feelings through flowers.
Relationships: Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 85
Collections: Haikyuu Secret Santa 2019





	your garden so delightful

**Author's Note:**

> For Neko. Merry Christmas!

The garden of Yamaguchi’s traits would be full of sunflowers. They would grow tall, soaking in all the light of Kei’s attention happily, following him wherever he shined from. They would have vibrant, rich yellow petals, extending farther than his hands could reach. And even though they would cast shadows over the flowers underneath, it had long stopped being difficult for Kei to find and nurture the other sides of Yamaguchi as well.

Daisies grew like wildflowers, a mess of white, pink, purple, blue, and yellow petals, like starbursts against the dark green grass. Each morning they would greet Kei, petals unfolding to reveal the yellow center, the warm hue as cheerful as the ‘good morning, Tsukki!’s he heard as they met up on their walk to school. And when the petals folded together, when Yamaguchi bid him goodnight with an unnecessarily soft smile, Kei would respond in kind, already excited for the next day to come so they could be together again.

Kei loved the dainty flowers, loved how soft they were and how they never failed to open up, easy and bright. He wanted nothing more than to show that appreciation, to tell Yamaguchi how much he meant to him and all the wonderful things about him. He wanted to tell him his freckles reminded him of the stars in the sky, how the flyaway hairs on his head were cute, and that when he smiled, everything in Kei lit up. So he bought a bouquet of red daisies, worth half his weekly allowance and the thousand words that got lodged in his throat. Yamaguchi was thankful, of course, because he liked flowers and red was his favorite color at the time. But that was all it was to him. Not that Kei expected Yamaguchi to spend hours learning the secret language so he could understand all the embarrassing things Kei thought. That would defeat the purpose of it being a secret language, after all. It didn't stop him from hoping Yamaguchi might one day understand all the wonderful things Kei saw when he looked at him.

Foxgloves grew around the edges, where Yamaguchi was sure Kei wouldn’t find them. And while there was no part of Yamaguchi he disliked, Kei wished the other boy wasn't so hard on himself all the time. So he would stare at the pink blossoms that hung low from their stems, especially on days where he couldn’t find the words to discourage Yamaguchi’s belittling thoughts, and sprinkle the seeds of heather bushes. He couldn’t keep Yamaguchi from tearing the petals from their stems, but he would protect him from pointless negativity from external sources to the best of his ability.

During the nights they spent together, Kei lazed in the lush grasses, letting the soft petals caress his skin. Yamaguchi, ever the lightweight, always fell asleep first, allowing Kei the rare opportunity to stare without worry. He’d commit the curves and lines of his face to memory and yearn to trace the constellations across his cheeks. The bushes around them blossomed, bright white moonflowers catching the light of the moon, though never quite enough to pull Kei’s attention away. As he drifted off to the land of dreams, each flower was met with a partner, petals softly bumping together, hesitant as ever. Despite everything, Kei always woke up with Yamaguchi clinging to his side and drool on his shoulder. The moonflowers gently closed as Kei roused the other boy from sleep and he was much too busy waiting for the daisies to open again and wishing for every morning to be just like this to ever realize what they might mean.

Honeysuckles had bloomed sometime in the summer. Nothing looked quite like the shrubbery, long white petals and pistils poking out from deep green foliage. They yearned for Kei to sit and let them surround him, and the small clearing in the center was always pleasantly warm, so he was inevitably drawn to it every time he perused the garden. The scent that floated all around him was intoxicating, and he indulged in the sweet nectar of the flowers, eagerly taking in all that Yamaguchi offered. He barely noticed the blush pink roses that had bloomed on the very edges of his clearing, tentative glances and rarely more than a gentle brush of fingers they shared as they walked side-by-side.

Kei loved the potential, the _something else_ building just under the surface. He liked catching Yamaguchi staring, fought his own blush when Yamaguchi caught him doing the same. So when Yamaguchi pulled back, suddenly and without warning, he was crushed. He saw the daffodils blooming, the bright yellow bulbs mocking him and all his grand intentions and wondered how he had so disastrously misinterpreted Yamaguchi’s feelings. Of course his feelings wouldn’t be returned. He had been foolish to let his fantasy get away from him.

The foxgloves ran rampant again. They choked out the heather bushes, took down all Kei had fought so hard to protect Yamaguchi with. It was Kei’s fault too. Boys didn’t exchange flowers. Didn’t hold hands. Didn’t stare and whisper and giggle, heads bowed together. Boys threw around insults they didn’t understand, made Yamaguchi wither and wilt and draw back.

Kei dug up the stupid pink flowers. Stomped them down into nothing, ripped the blossoms from the stems and tore the petals to shreds. They didn’t matter. What they said didn’t matter. What mattered was how Yamaguchi felt, how he felt about Kei, how he felt about himself. Kei didn’t yell but he felt hoarse afterward anyway. Yamaguchi, shellshocked and disbelieving, hadn’t uttered a word while Kei ranted, had listened and waited patiently until he was done. And with the softest smile, he had said sorry.

Kei bought Yamaguchi a tiger lily, a bright orange, freckled flower that he had seen in the window of the flower shop and researched as soon as he got home. He waited until the weekend to give it to him, waited until he gathered his thoughts and was able to say everything he had wanted to. Yamaguchi was worth all the effort and more: worth the embarrassment heating his face up, worth the shaky hands, worth the cracks in his voice as he confessed. Yamaguchi accepted the flower, accepted his dramatics, accepted his feelings, and accepted all the things Kei said as truth. As he held the flower up to his nose, cheeks dusted with pink, Kei knew he was never going to be able to think about anything else when he watched the sun set.

Chrysanthemums, bright strawberry red, bloomed all over the place after that. He could feel the soft petals with every brush of Yamaguchi's lips: over his hand in greeting, on his cheek as a goodbye. His heart pounded each time, loud and insistent and didn't calm down until the moment had long passed.

Scattered in bushes, clusters of purple and white flowers had blossomed. Individually, the flowers were no larger than pennies, but the bunch of them could barely fit in the palm of Kei’s hand. He wasn’t surprised to find them, nor the ivy vines tangled up near the roots. As he watched Yamaguchi work, at school, at practice, even on his Pokémon games, he could see the little flowers opening up one by one. He loved how dedicated the other boy was, how easily he could put himself into the things he cared about. The thought made him nervous, but he couldn’t find any part that could argue. He loved Yamaguchi and his devotion.

Yamaguchi grew in his boldness, confidence growing with the increase of his skills in volleyball. His serves were a reliable staple of their offense, a way to get ahead no matter how talented their opponents were. He had a way of pulling the rug out from others, of creating a false sense of calm just to rip it away as the ball bounced off their arms and earned Karasuno point after point. Stalks as tall as the sunflowers grew, flowers growing in bunches all along them. The center of the flowers, warm gold, surrounded by petals varying from pink to purple to white, reminded Kei of bells. And though they made no noise, he was sure he could hear the kind of music they would make; a soft, sonorous song, subtle until it wasn’t, quiet until it was booming and silencing the other sounds in the garden. Yamaguchi was strong. Cool. Somebody to be proud of. Someone who had pride in themself.

As their heads tipped together, breath mingling in the small space between them, Kei was sure his heart had stopped. Yamaguchi whispered that Kei’s eyes were like amber fossils, and even as Kei teased him about being a huge nerd, he continued on. He told him they held history, intrigue, and secrets to the past, that he was beautiful. The tulips that grew were a mottled orange and yellow, vibrant petals resembling crisp autumn leaves. Kei leaned the last little bit forward, Yamaguchi’s words sticky sweet between them as their lips pressed together. Yamaguchi hesitated for a moment before melting into the kiss, intertwining their fingers where they had been resting on his lap.

Yamaguchi stood in Kei's doorway, hands held neatly behind his back. He smiled, greeting Kei as he rocked back and forth between his heels and the balls of his feet. He started blabbering about how lucky they were that practice got canceled, obviously avoiding the topic he wanted to bring up, and Kei entertained it briefly before asking why he had come over. Yamaguchi startled, blinking several times before seemingly gathering his resolve.

"I love you," he said, and Kei spluttered, already racing to catch up and reciprocate. Yamaguchi brought his hands in front of him, revealing a small bouquet. Kei's whole face burned as he stared, gears already turning in his mind to decode the message. Lilacs framed the arrangement and pansies, deep purple and yellow, were gathered around the centerpiece, a bright white gardenia. The message was clear and simple, each flower echoing the three little words he had yet to say back. Yamaguchi cleared his throat, startling him out of his daze.

"I know you… I know," he said, and it already dawned on Kei what he knew. It wasn't a secret he'd kept all that well anyway. Kei summoned his remaining wits, thoughts terribly scattered in the wake of Yamaguchi's easy understanding. One thought rang clearer than the rest.

"I love you, too," Kei said, gently taking the bouquet from Yamaguchi. After a moment, he invited Yamaguchi in and prepared a vase for the flowers. As he arranged the flowers in their new home, Yamaguchi joined him, hugging him from behind. He guided Kei's hand, teasing him about having a terrible eye for coordination despite his organization skills. Kei huffed but allowed it, relaxing into his touch and letting the warmth of the embrace envelop him.


End file.
